Case Number 22819

ANOTHER EARTH (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Does a new earth mean a chance at another life?

Opening Statement

"What would we really like to see if we could stand outside ourselves
and look at us?"

Facts of the Case

Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling, Community) is an exceptionally gifted
high schooler who has just been accepted to MIT. To celebrate, she engages in a
night of drinking and partying with her friends. Alas, she foolishly decides to
drive home by herself while intoxicated, and crashes into another vehicle as a
result. The accident puts John Burroughs (William Mapother, In the
Bedroom) into a coma; Burroughs' wife and child are killed. After John
recovers, Rhoda determines to find a way to make amends.

Meanwhile, a major cosmic event is taking place. Another earth has appeared
in the sky; a world which seems to be identical to our own. A trip to
"Earth 2" is being planned, and an essay contest is being held to
determine which individual citizen will be permitted to go along with the
official team. Rhoda enters the contest, hoping she'll have a chance to meet up
with an alternate version of herself.

The Evidence

Intriguingly, Another Earth is one of two 2011 films centered around
the idea of another planet arriving in close proximity to earth. Both movies
feature troubled female protagonists, and both filmed with jittery hand-held
cameras, despite the presence of numerous static classical special effects. Even
more intriguingly, neither of these two science-fiction films are particularly
concerned with the "science" element of the story. Lars von Trier's
Melancholia uses the other planet as a springboard to explore the nature
of depression, while Mike Cahill's Another Earth uses the arrival of an
alternate universe as a springboard to explore questions of identity and what it
means to be human. While the latter may not have the devastating power or
resonance of the former, it's still an intriguing and ambitious effort.

The story of Another Earth's creation is arguably as interesting as
the film itself: Cahill figured out how to achieve his special effects shots he
on a low budget, and together with actress Brit Marling developed a story around
the notion of another earth coming into close proximity with our own. He shot a
large chunk of the movie for next to nothing with a digital camera, then was
able to persuade familiar face William Mapother (best known as Tom Cruise's
cousin and Ethan on Lost) to take the key role of John Burroughs for a
minuscule amount of pay. The film went on to win the Alfred P. Sloane prize at
the Sundance Film Festival, and now serves as something of a "just grab a
camera and make a movie" inspiration for aspiring filmmakers.

There are quite a few shades of Kieslowski's The Double Life of
Veronique present in Another Earth, which should give you a good
indication of where the film's priorities are. This isn't about rocket ships or
tricky scientific conundrums, but rather basic human concerns. While the
questions being asked are fairly compelling, I couldn't help but feel the
exploration of said questions was slight. Cahill's symbolism is less subtle and
potent than Kieslowski's, and his lack of technical prowess prevents us from
being as thoroughly absorbed by the material as we were with The Double Life
of Veronique. Even so, Kieslowski's own early films were pretty rough around
the edges, and it's not too difficult to see Cahill developing into a similar
filmmaker over time.

Another Earth benefits from two exceptional performances. Marling is
something of a revelation, carrying the film with a naturalistic ease and
selling some rather challenging moments of inner torment. It may not be
Oscar-caliber, but it's an exceptional acting debut which should earn her plenty
of offers. Meanwhile, character actor Mapother seems to relish the opportunity
to dig into a more substantial role than he's usually handed; bringing his all
to some emotionally-charged scenes and generating impressive chemistry with
Marling. A few other characters turn up in very minor roles (including a
slightly distracting Robin Taylor of Step Up 3D as Rhoda's obnoxious
brother), but this is largely a two-person show. Thankfully, it has leads
capable of ensuring the adventure never feels amateurish.

Another Earth (Blu-ray) looks about as good as it can, under the
circumstances, just don't expect a visual treat. Though an increasing number of
recent low-budget indie features have demonstrated grade-A cinematography
(Azazel Jacobs' Terri springs to mind), this actually looks like it was
made on the cheap. The 1.85:1/1080p high definition image is soft a good deal of
the time, and noise can be rather excessive in darker scenes. The level of
detail is respectable, given the source material, but this movie was never going
to look like The Tree of Life. The DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio is a notch
better, with an otherworldly (sorry) score blending seamlessly with the
dialogue. It's a very quiet track; the music rarely rises above a murmur and
sound design is minimal, but it gets the job done. I'm honestly disappointed in
the supplemental package, as I would have loved an in-depth look at how this
tiny movie came to life. Instead, we get a batch of fluffy EPK-style "Fox
Movie Channel Presents" puff pieces ("Direct Effect with Mike
Cahill," "In Character with Brit Marling," "In Character
with William Mapother," "The Science Behind Another Earth"
and "Creating Another Earth"), some deleted scenes, a music
video, a trailer, a DVD copy, and a digital copy.

Closing Statement

Another Earth doesn't quite manage to live up to its ambitions, and
yet I can't help feel it's only a warm-up for better things to come. Cahill is a
director to watch; those who dig more philosophically-inclined cinema ought to
give his low-budget debut a look.